There probably is no player from either Wisconsin or Texas Christian who is looking forward to the 97th Rose Bowl Game more than the Horned Frogs’ Andy Dalton.

It’s not because the tradition of college football’s most-storied venue, or the historical significance of TCU playing in the Granddaddy of Them All for the first time.

No, this is personal, and it goes back to last January.

Dalton doesn’t believe he was at his best the last time the Horned Frogs were on the national stage, losing 17-10 to Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

For him, the Rose Bowl is all about redemption.

“This is definitely a game I’m looking forward to,” said the senior quarterback, who leads No. 3 TCU against No. 5 Wisconsin on Saturday. “The way it ended last year, the way we played, it definitely wasn’t my best game.

“I do see it as redemption. I want to show what we can do, and I don’t think there’s a better stage to show the nation.”

Dalton has already shown a lot.

The senior, who was a finalist for the Manning and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards, has accounted for 3,045 yards and 31 touchdowns this season. He’s passed for 2,638 yards and 26 scores.

But his top statistic has nothing to do with completion percentage, touchdowns or passing efficiency rating.

It has everything to do with victories, and no active college quarterback has won more often than Dalton. The 41 victories Dalton has

engineered is the most in TCU history, a history that includes NFL Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh. For the record, Baugh won 29 games during his time as a Horned Frog.

Dalton is 35-3 during the past three years, including 12-0 this season.

“He took his lumps early (as a red-shirt freshman),” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “But since then, we’ve won a lot of ball games.

“For me, as a coach, to have the redhead leading the huddle, on and off the field, it’s been tremendous.

“He’s learned how to win ball games. Plus, he carries himself with class and loves big games. I think it makes you step back and say, `That’s the type of (person) you want to be around.”‘

But it wasn’t always as easy as it looks for Dalton, who struggled during his freshman season.

“Coming out of high school, I didn’t know what to expect,” Dalton said. “It was a learning curve. I didn’t have any experience, but just playing allowed to me to get better, and I matured. I understand the game more now.”

It’s showed the past two years. Dalton helped TCU earn a trip to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010 by throwing for more than 2,300 yards and 23 touchdowns before keying the Horned Frogs’ perfect season this year.

Dalton has saved his best for the big games, throwing for 313 yards and three touchdowns in a 47-7 victory over then-No. 5 Utah before passing for three more TDs in a 66-17 rout of New Mexico that wrapped up a BCS bowl bid Nov. 27.

It also wrapped up the best back-to-back regular seasons in the program’s history. But that’s not anything that Dalton didn’t expect when signed with the Horned Frogs in 2006.

“We knew when we all came here we had potential,” Dalton said. “We thought we could be pretty good.

“TCU went 11-1 the year before, so we knew the program was good, too. I think we just knew that if we worked hard, we could achieve some good things.”

Now he wants to go out on top in the Rose Bowl.

“I think we will know what to expect,” Dalton said. “We have grown up a lot from last year. We have a lot of guys who played in the Fiesta Bowl last year, so hopefully we will have grown up and taken the experience and allowed it to help us.

“People often say we don’t get enough chances to play against (BCS) automatic-qualifying teams. This will be a great opportunity for us to go out and play a game in a great atmosphere at the Rose Bowl.”

Steve Ramirez writes about public safety issues including criminal justice and fires in Inland Southern California. He previously covered high schools, college football and motor sports for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune since 1989. He's a big fan of Buddy Holly and loves World War II movies.

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